The Amish Cookie Club

by Sarah Price

  “Land’s sake! You must be keeping yourself busy,” Miriam exclaimed. “The only time I ever get to see you is at weddings and funerals.”

  Edna wagged a finger at the woman. “And MayFest.” “Ah, ja! That’s right.” She snapped her fingers as if she had completely forgotten. “MayFest. Why, that’s just in another week, ain’t so?”

  A wave of panic washed over Edna. Was that all it was? Just a week? She’d have to get busy to finish the last two baby blankets. “I believe it is, Miriam.” And danke for the reminder, she wanted to add.

  Just then, a child bumped into Edna’s legs. Thankfully, she was leaning against the cart as she talked to Miriam, so she didn’t stumble forward.

  Reaching out her hand, Edna steadied the young boy. “Careful there, now.”

  “Henry?”

  Both Miriam and Edna looked up as a young woman in a dark purple dress hurried around the corner of the aisle, a deep frown on her face as she scanned the area for the missing child.

  “There you are!”

  Her hand still resting on Henry’s shoulder, Edna greeted Myrna with a smile. How fortunate, she thought. Now she could inquire directly about how Myrna was enjoying her new job. “Myrna! What a surprise!” She glanced at Miriam. “You remember Miriam Schrock, ja?”

  “Oh, ja, I do.” She gave the other woman a quick smile before responding to Edna. “She’s in our g’may, you know.”

  Of course! Edna should’ve remembered that Myrna and Miriam were in the same church district.

  Myrna knelt before Henry. “You shouldn’t run off like that,” she scolded before she held his hand and, with an exasperated sigh, turned toward the two women. “I just don’t know how anyone keeps track of their little ones! Balls of energy and always on the run!”

  Miriam raised an eyebrow. “I heard you were watching the Riehl kinner,” she said, an odd tone in her voice.

  “Ja, I am.”

  With a curious look on her face, Miriam glanced around as if seeking someone. “And the other kinner?”

  “Schule.” The single word was Myrna’s only reply as Henry began to flop onto the floor, tugging at his ear. “Henry! Please.”

  “And how’re you getting on with Ezekiel?”

  Myrna lifted Henry into her arms and held him, his head pressed against her shoulder. “I . . . I don’t see much of Zeke. I mean”—she gave a small laugh—“he works outside, and I work inside.”

  Edna pursed her lips, considering Myrna’s response. There was something in the way Myrna spoke, a bit of nervousness, when she responded about Ezekiel. And she had called him by a very familiar nickname. But before she could inquire further, Miriam leaned over and placed her hands upon Henry’s cheeks, twisting his head around so she could get a better look at him.

  “He’s got an ear infection,” she announced after a quick ten-second inspection.

  Edna couldn’t resist looking into Henry’s ears. “Oh help! He sure does.” She looked at Myrna. “Best tell Ezekiel to take him to the doctor.”

  At this, Miriam bristled. “Won’t do you any good, you know. Best to treat it on your own.”

  Myrna’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

  Miriam puffed out her chest a bit, and Edna rolled her eyes. She knew exactly what was coming: a long stream of busybody gossip. “Why, Ezekiel’s the one who wouldn’t let Katie Ruth get the care she needed when she had the cancer. I wouldn’t think he’d take his son to a doctor for a simple ear infection, then.”

  Edna frowned and gave a short tsk, tsk while glancing at Henry. But he was already asleep, his hand on his ear as he snuggled against Myrna’s shoulder.

  Lowering her voice, Miriam continued. “Katie Ruth’s maem is my cousin, you know.” She paused. “Was, anyway.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Miriam bristled. “Not your fault. However, I have this on good authority. He all but . . .” She scanned the aisle before she mouthed the words, “. . . killed her.”

  “That’s hogwash!” Edna exclaimed.

  But Miriam remained adamant. “And you’re familiar with the family?”

  While she had a point, Edna didn’t like such ugliness spoken about anyone.

  “Anyway, you’d best be buying some wax burning candles for his ear,” Miriam suggested. “Won’t do you any good to think Ezekiel will take him anywhere. He’s one of those who believes God heals everything without the help of doctors, who we all know only learned medicine by God’s grace.” She made a scoffing noise. “Why, my cousin said that he had quite a temper about the whole thing. Frightened Katie Ruth terribly.”

  The conversation ended abruptly when a man walked around the corner, pushing the shopping cart with a baby seated in the front section. “Myrna?”

  Edna noticed that Miriam blanched, the color immediately draining from her face. Serves you right, Edna thought. Gossiping like that! From Miriam’s reactions, Edna didn’t need an introduction. She knew right away that the man who approached them, his eyes lighting up when he saw Myrna, was none other than Ezekiel Riehl.

  He looked at Edna and smiled. When his eyes fell upon Miriam, something about his countenance changed. His jaw tensed, and he visibly stiffened. He barely nodded his head at her. Instead, he focused on his son.

  “You found him, I see.” Ezekiel leaned over and brushed his hand across the back of Henry’s neck as if straightening the collar of the child’s shirt. “Let me hold him, ja? Boy’s heavy for you, don’t you think? Then you can finish gathering the items on your list.”

  Curiously, Edna watched as Myrna handed over the boy and started to say something, as if about to mention Henry’s ear. But, for some reason, she clearly thought better of the idea. Instead, she clamped her mouth shut and let Ezekiel cradle the now-silent child.

  Well, Edna thought, if that didn’t come as a shocker. For once, Myrna didn’t open her mouth to speak out? Had Miriam’s warning kept her silent?

  Myrna waved goodbye and followed Ezekiel down the aisle, pushing the cart behind him. With great curiosity, Edna watched as Myrna stopped and leaned over, whispering something to the baby, who grabbed Myrna’s kapp string, which hung over her shoulder.

  Edna smiled. She remembered the days when her children used to do that. Now, as she saw Myrna gently withdrawing the string from the baby’s hand, it dawned on her that something had changed in the young woman. In the few days that Myrna had been working for Ezekiel, she had grown up.

  Oh, she thought, as she watched Myrna trailing behind Ezekiel, hurrying to catch up, she could hardly wait to speak to Verna. Stranger things had happened than a young woman falling for a widower or a widower falling for his children’s caregiver. From the looks of it, the wheels were in motion already, and Edna suspected that it was taking root on both sides.

  Perhaps the cookie club’s idea to help tame the boldness in Myrna was already working!

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nothing could have surprised Verna more than opening her door Tuesday afternoon to find Miriam Schrock standing there. Or so she thought. When Miriam shared her news, Verna thought she’d just about faint on the spot. Surely Miriam was not standing before her to discuss Myrna being at the store. Something must have happened there. But her brain couldn’t wrap itself around the shock of seeing Miriam and her surprise at hearing that Myrna had gone to Shipshewana.

  “Who’s watching the kinner?” she asked, her heart racing. “Has something happened?”

  The older woman pushed her way into the house, making her way to the kitchen table. “Heat me up some coffee and I’ll tell you all about it!” she ordered as she plopped into a chair and slipped off her shoes.

  “I went to the food store earlier,” Miriam explained.

  “You can imagine our surprise when Myrna walked around the corner and Ezekiel followed!”

  Verna frowned. “What do you mean by ‘our’ surprise?”

  “Edna and I.”

  A chill went through Verna. For some reason, she had a feeling th
at this story wasn’t going to end well.

  “I ran into Edna and we were talking a spell, you see, and then Myrna came around the corner all flustered and chasing after Ezekiel’s boy.” She sipped at her coffee. “We were talking a bit and then Ezekiel showed up.” Her expression changed, clearly showing her displeasure with him. “Why, he had no manners whatsoever, scooped up that little one, and practically marched away with nary a word!”

  Ezekiel was rude? She could scarce believe it, but why would Miriam tell a lie? No, Verna didn’t like the sound of that one bit. “What did Myrna do?”

  Miriam set down the coffee cup. “That’s the strangest thing about it, you see. She trailed after him, her head hanging down, a good two steps behind that man as if scared of him!”

  Verna gasped. “Oh help!”

  Miriam nodded. “Exactly. That sure ain’t like your Myrna. And I’m just wondering what’s going on at that haus.” She ran her finger over the top of the coffee mug. “How long’s she been working there?”

  “Why, just a week or so.”

  “Stranger things have happened,” Miriam mumbled. “And the boy has an ear infection, you see, but Ezekiel’s against Englische medicine . . . or, rather, any medicine at all!” She clucked her tongue. “Well, I picked up some ear candles and a small bottle of apple cider vinegar to swab the ear afterward.” She reached out and pushed the bag across the table toward Verna. “Mayhaps you could give them to Myrna when she gets home. He shouldn’t suffer like that.”

  Verna reached out for the bag and slowly opened it. The paper crinkled in the quiet of the kitchen. She peered inside, and sure enough, there were ear candles and a bottle of apple cider vinegar. “That was awful kind of you, Miriam,” Verna said. “Let me pay you for that.”

  Dismissively, Miriam waved her hand. “Nee, not necessary. It’s for the boy. He was such a sweet little thing and giving Myrna such a start when he ran off. But when I saw that red ear, well, I just wanted to do something.” She reached again for her coffee and lifted it to her lips, peering at Verna over the rim. “But you might be wanting to chat a spell with your dochder. I know that Ezekiel, and he’ll be looking for Katie Ruth’s replacement. You sure don’t want Myrna to end up the same way Katie Ruth did!”

  Verna’s mind wandered while Miriam quickly changed subjects, the energy of the coffee having kicked in. She began talking about Jenny Hostetler and a fight she’d had with her sister over the best way to clean the house for the upcoming worship service. Verna barely listened to one word that Miriam said—she already had heard about the disagreement and thought Miriam to be exaggerating, anyway—as she mulled over about this new information she’d learned.

  Was it possible that Ezekiel was trying to woo Myrna? While he’d seemed like a nice enough man, she also knew that dark secrets were often hidden by the most surprising people. And what about Myrna? She was someone who was always trying to help others, mending the wing of every broken bird—even when the wing was only sprained. It would make sense that she’d fall for Ezekiel, especially since he had given her permission to reorganize everything in his house. Had that one sanction won her heart so easily?

  Verna knew she needed to talk with Simon the moment he returned home from work. Only he would understand her concern and help her sort out the matter.

  * * *

  At six o’clock on the button, Verna stood on the porch, waiting for Simon to arrive home.

  Inside the house, a plain white linen cloth covered the table, which was already set for dinner. A plate of freshly baked bread—sliced in thin pieces—along with a bowl of homemade jam looked lonely without any other platters of food. But the table wouldn’t be so empty for long. Dinner was cooking in the oven, and the entire house smelled of maple ham and sweet potato casserole.

  But Verna wasn’t going to let one person eat a morsel of food until she’d had a moment of private time with her husband.

  After Miriam’s visit, she wanted to get to the bottom of this situation with Ezekiel. Frankly, she had forgotten to ask Simon if he’d learned of any other news about the man. Shame on her, she thought wryly. But she’d noticed that Myrna seemed happy with her new job—though tired—and that made her want to push aside this negative scuttlebutt about Ezekiel. She’d never subscribed to Miriam Schrock’s “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” philosophy.

  All of that had changed after today, however. She could no longer ignore the stories floating around about Ezekiel Riehl. She needed to get to the bottom of the rumors. A man who refused his wife treatment for cancer and didn’t want his child’s ear infection addressed was not a man Verna wanted her daughter working for. Especially if she was forced to follow him around a grocery store while pushing a shopping cart!

  “What ho! What’s this?” Simon asked as he emerged from the horse and buggy. “A welcoming committee today?” The bright smile on his face gave no indication that he suspected his wife had something important on her mind. But that changed when she hurried down the porch steps and across the yard to speak to him before he had a chance to unhitch the horse.

  “Simon! Have you managed to ask anyone about this Ezekiel fellow?”

  His hands stopped as he unbuckled the traces. “Back to that again, eh?”

  “Indeed!” Verna put her hands on her hips and lowered her voice. “Miriam Schrock stopped by today and—”

  Simon’s eyebrows knit together, and he gave her a sharp look. “Miriam Schrock has an awful lot of time on her hands, Verna, and we both know what God says about idle hands.”

  She clucked her tongue. “She ran into Myrna and Ezekiel at the grocery store today.”

  Simon raised an eyebrow. Clearly, this news appeared to intrigue him. “Oh ja? Interesting . . .” His voice trailed off as he focused on unhitching the horse.

  “And Myrna was pushing the cart behind him like a . . .” She paused, trying to think of the correct word. When none came, she pressed her lips together and said, “Well, like an obedient wife, I suppose! He was telling her what to buy, Miriam said, and she was just trailing along, with that boppli hanging on to her kapp strings, according to Miriam.”

  “She is working for him,” Simon reminded her. “But it’s interesting that a farmer would take time from his day to go grocery shopping.”

  For all her fluster, Verna froze upon hearing his words. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Simon tried to hide his smile. “Mayhaps he’s a bit ferhoodled with our dochder after all.”

  “Ach!” Verna flung her hands into the air. “Don’t say such things, Simon Bontrager! The last thing we need is our twenty-one-year-old dochder suddenly married to a man with four young kinner—”

  “And what’s wrong with that?” he asked, interrupting her. Resting his arm across the horse’s back, Simon stared at her. “Many a good marriage came from a man and a second wife.”

  Verna flushed. She had forgotten that Simon’s mother was a second wife and had borne his father six children to complement the two that he’d had with his first wife. “If you had let me finish,” she snapped, “you’d have heard me say a man with four small kinner who doesn’t believe in modern medicine!”

  “Back to that silly story, huh?” he mumbled. “Ironically, the source, once again, is Miriam Schrock!”

  Verna stepped closer to her husband. “Simon, I don’t want my dochder working for one of those types of Amish.” She met his gaze head-on. “They’re too strict, and I want better for her. I’m sure Katie Ruth’s family wishes they’d learned more about him before they gave their blessings on the union. Maybe she’d still be alive.” She paused before adding, “Lord knows I never want to be in that same position in two or three years, would you?”

  Chapter Fifteen

  On Wednesday morning, Myrna peered into the brown paper bag, trying to make sense of its contents. She pulled out a long, thin, cream-colored candle, wrapped in waxy paper, and examined it carefully.

  Incredulous, she looked at her mother. “
I haven’t seen one of these in years! I think since Mammi Bess was alive. Where did you get this ear candle?”

  Her mother fussed with the ties on her apron. “Miriam.”

  At the risk of sounding insolent, Myrna groaned. Leave it to Miriam Schrock to take it upon herself to butt in when no one asked for her advice.

  Upon hearing this, her mother said, “Now Myrna, she’s just trying to help.”

  “Really?” The sarcasm dripped from Myrna’s voice. “I seriously doubt that.”

  “Myrna!”

  Spreading her hands out before her, the candle still between her thumb and finger, Myrna couldn’t help but say what she felt. “Maem, she saw me at the store and came all the way over here to give you this? An ear candle?” She reached into the bag and withdrew the bottle of apple cider vinegar. “And this?” She read the label. “What’s this for, anyway?”

  “Ear infections.”

  Irritated, Myrna dropped it back into the bag. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

  Her mother, however, remained adamant. “First of all, if you rub a little in the boy’s ear with a cotton swab, it will help heal the infection. Secondly, I think it’s nice that she stopped by. It’s not every day that someone is so concerned about another person’s child.”

  Then where was Miriam after Katie Ruth died? Myrna wanted to snap back. But she held that truth close to her heart, not wanting to circulate stories that weren’t her business to spread. Besides, she hadn’t asked Ezekiel whether they were true or not. Even more importantly, she felt protective of him and didn’t want her mother to know his business.

  She tossed the ear candle into the bag with the bottle of vinegar. “I’ll be certain to try it,” she forced herself to say. In her mind, she simply could not see herself swabbing little Henry’s ear with apple cider vinegar. After having almost two weeks under her apron, the children certainly liked her well enough. She didn’t want to ruin it by burning a candle or dousing his ear with smelly vinegar!